Building a house?

[basil]

Has anyone ever built a home before and want to share experiences??

DH and I are looking for a new house. We're currently renting after not being able to decide where we wanted to live. But we'd really like to move in the next year or so to be in a better neighborhood for our son to play outside once he gets mobile.

The neighborhood we picked is really nice. The location is perfect and it has great schools. It has walking paths going around. There are several houses for sale in our price range. None are perfect, but they are all nice. They are mostly between 15-20 years old, but the owners have kept them up really well and updated them. But some of the updates aren't really my taste.

There is one lot left in the neighborhood of a few hundred houses. It's a nice lot - it slopes down to a wooded area in back good for a walk-out basement. We actually already know some of the neighbors on the street and there are a lot of young kids. But we would have to build a house.

I am kind of excited about the idea. I have particular taste and would welcome the chance to pick everything! But I've heard people say it's really stressful and maybe it wouldn't be as fun once I got past picking the floors and the cabinets or whatever. And DH thinks that the resale wouldn't be as good. The pricing would be about the same - maybe $5-10k more - but would not include a finished basement like some of the houses we are looking at. We could always do that in a few years though.

One other resale consideration is that our house would obviously be the newest in the large neighborhood. Plus, the houses directly around it are more expensive than the house we would plan. I think those things would be an advantage.

 

[soocool]

We built our home over 16 years ago in a private neighborhood, not in a development. The biggest headache you will encounter is once you have the architectural plans for your home, presenting them to the township for approvals. You would better off consulting a builder (if you have chosen one) to discuss what you need to do before you even consider purchasing the land. The questions that your township/city can answer for you will include, setbacks from the road, home size versus permeable surfaces, size of home may determine if you need a sprinkler system,etc. Your general contractor will be the one presenting plans for approval (if you choose to be your own general contractor be prepared for huge headaches if you don't know what you are doing).

For example, If you will have a septic system the health inspector will have to perform a "perk test". If you need a well, where will it be dug and how deep you don't know until you drill. If you have public water and sewer then those lines will have to be tied into from your home to the street.

The great thing about building your own home is that you get to pick the house you want - size rooms, placement of rooms, etc. It actually took us 6 months from purchase of land to built our home (land was already perk tested and radon tested - yes I recommend testing soil for radon). We added things later on such as a deck and patio. Definitely finishing the basement is cheaper when you have the crew there rather than finishing it later (make sure you basement is 9 feet tall to accommodate for ceilings and flooring- my friend's husband is 6'7" and their basement walls were only 8' high. After they finished it he has to stoop a bit) because they will put in the lines for water/toilet.

We are planning to build another home in a few years when DH retires. We already have the land. This one will be easy -a ranch home.

 

[basil]

Thanks, soocool!

Were you glad that you went through the process?

The neighborhood has town water and sewer so I don't think we'll have to do the perk test, etc. We're in no particular rush to move, just within the next year or so.

We would be working with the builder who built some of the houses in the neighborhood already. Actually, he owns the land now so we're forced to go with him. Obviously, we would contact the owners for references before committing to that though. I assume he would take care of the approvals with the town, etc.

I guess I'm just curious for those who went through the process - how much work and how much angst and headaches there were along the way? I like the "shopping" aspect of it but don't know if I want to deal with a ton of stress around the whole process.

 

[soocool]

I prefer to purchase my own land outright and hire my own contractor whom I trust. However, I know a few builders who have owned the land and built for their customers and they are extremely reputable builders and built very beautiful homes. So check out the builder thoroughly, online or through references with a list of homes he has built (ask detailed questions), he may have done business under other names so it is important to know how long he has been doing business under his present name, otherwise he may be hiding stuff if he is CC builder now, but 2 years ago he was BB builder, and before that he was AA builder.

One word of advice if the builder owns the land....hire a real estate attorney to represent you. It will be well worth the money. Yes, your builder/general contractor will take care of the permits etc., but the contract he will have you sign will be in his benefit. The real estate attorney will look it over and make sure there are clauses in there to protect you. For example, what happens in the middle of construction if the builder goes bankrupt or does not complete the job, or does not complete to your liking (this is where escrow account comes into play). How much money up front, are upgrades paid out of closing?, who does he use as his subcontractors (this is important, because if he isn't reputable he will hire the cheapest guys to cut corners). One of the worst things that can happen is that someone can file a lien against you if the contractor does not pay his subs or his suppliers.

In the end it was a PITA, but I have a home that I absolutely love. It is exactly the home I had wanted in the area I wanted. It is a quiet and highly desirable location. Our home is worth more than 3x what we paid to build it.

 

[partgypsy]

I haven't built a new home but my parents had a new home built when I was a kid. Their process was very straightforward in that it was through a builder and they simply had to select which plan and which options/amenities (my mom still agonized about the tile for the bathrooms!).
Personally as long as the builder is reputable, it seems like the best of both worlds, in that you can choose the neighborhood you want, and have the house built to your specifications. Having a smaller home where there are larger homes is not usually a problem, the situation the other way around is more typically a problem when reselling.

So, I'm excited for you! Good luck in the process. Personally if I were putting in a home I'd install a geothermal heat pump, those things are cool.

 

[rainwood]

We had the city house we're in custom built for us (bought the site, hired the architect, hired the GC) 25 years ago and we're going through the process right now for a vacation house that's in a more rural setting.

Some couples love the process and do it over and over again. I don't think that's true for most people, and it certainly hasn't been true for us either time. I find it really, really stressful although I'm always happy with the end product. There's just something about it that make me crazy. Part of it depends on how active and vocal your DH will be in the process. If both of you are going to be active, then it helps if you have the same ideas and tastes, which is true less often than you might imagine. That's part of the problem for me and my DH. We like different things and it's hard to find a compromise that works for both of us that we can afford. Plus we know a lot about construction so we like to be involved in everything. It's probably easier for those people who want someone to build them something nice and rely on the architect and GC for a lot of the heavy lifting. We aren't those kind of people.

If you're designing the house from scratch rather than making choices from a set of pre-done plans and options, you have to start with the big questions. How do you want the house to function, what kinds of rooms will you want and use, what sizes and locations, what style of architecture, etc. That takes some work to figure out, and can lead to very different visions from each of the participants. Plus, what you want and what you can afford are usually two different things. You have to become good at giving things up that don't work with the budget. That can be hard because there are so many great things out there. I finally told the architect and the GC that I didn't like to window shop. If something was going to cost more than we could afford, I didn't want to know about it. And it sounds like fun to pick out everything yourself but it's a TON of work, which you have to fit in around everything else going on in your life. And one thing affects another.

Let's take one example: Flooring.

Do you want hardwood, laminate, carpet, tile, stone, vinyl, linoleum, cork, etc.? Lots of choices. And to pick the floors, you need to know what kind of heating system. If you want radiant heat floors, you need to know they don't work with some types of flooring. And to pick the heating system, you need to know whether you want AC because that also dictates what kind of heating/cooling system makes sense. So there's a certain circular nature to some of the decisionmaking.

So, let's say you decide to pick hardwood in the living room. Then you have to decide solid or engineered? Pre-finished or on-site sanded and finished? What type of wood? What width of strips? What color stain? What amount of sheen? Hand scraped or not? And can you afford what you picked out? If not, start over.

Imagine that process for every room in the house: Cabinets, doors, windows, flooring, appliances, light fixtures, sinks, faucets, showers, baths, countertops, backsplashes, closet systems, paint colors, siding materials and color, roofing material and color, cabinet hardware, door hardware, millwork. And don't forget the outside because you don't want your new house to sit in the middle of a dirt pit so you have to make choices on the hardscape and the landscaping.

That's a lot of choices to make and a lot of research to do. It can be overwhelming at times, and you need to give yourself enough time to do that, including taking breaks from it, and then coming back to re-evaluate your choices.

In the end, you get what you want to the extent it was within budget and you have LOTS of stories to tell. We've managed to stay married through both projects and several remodels in between, but I'd never call the process fun. If you'd like to ask more questions, feel free. I'm happy to help any way I can.

 

[basil]

Rainwood - Thanks so much for your description of the process! My DH isn't really into these things so he would defer the design decisions to me. I can forsee some conflict over budget though (i.e. I want an upgrade and DH thinks it isn't worth it). I think we can weather it though, we don't usually have a lot of financial conflict. What I'm more concerned about it how I/we will handle when the something goes wrong - and I KNOW something will (delays, etc.). I just don't know if I could be laid back about it all. How did things like this go for you?

PG - thanks for sharing your experience! At first glance, it does seem ideal to build in the neighborhood we want, but I just want to make sure we aren't committing ourselves to being miserable while the building is happening.

 

[lizzyann]

I agree 100% with rainwood. We built our first home. It came out very nice, however, I beat myself up along the way. My DH let me make all of the design decisions and while I LOVE that kind of stuff, it was very overwhelming. Too many choices! I also would constantly have second thoughts about certain things. When we moved, we decided to buy an already built brand new home. I don't think I'd ever build again personally. I prefer to just go and look at new houses in our budget and buy the one that we love. By doing that, I was able to accept it as it is and change what I didn't like down the road. Less pressure on myself that way. Just my two cents. If you choose to build, definitely start looking for ideas now! i.e. countertops, cabinets, light fixtures, paint colors, flooring types . Good luck!

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Unless you have plenty of time to go to the construction site DAILY to check on everything they have done that day, don't even think about it!!! You have to be on top of what is done because they will make mistakes and you need to be there to tell them to redo before it is too late! It sounds like you already have a full plate with a fulltime job and a baby. Well, building a house takes a LOT of time!!! I really think in that neighborhood it may not be a good financial decision to build when most of the homes are older. I think buying an existing home will get you into a home for a better price, and then you can redo rooms over time when you have the time.

We built from scratch once and bought brand new, already built homes twice. I'll take the newly built home any day over building, unless you have the time and money to build your final custom home. We just moved a little over a year ago and there is no way I could have built a custom house while working fulltime.

 

[basil]

Diamondseeker - Daily?? Wow....I could swing once a week, but couldn't do daily.

Lizzy - thanks for the input! I may be the same way. I generally enjoy agonizing over purchasing decisions, but it might just be too much right now.

 

[lizzyann]

Basil, yes I totally understand. I enjoy the agonizing and choosing of design type stuff. But I prefer to do it one room at a time, little by little. Like right now, we are updating my half bath. So I researched what color granite, got inspiration pictures, and I'm super excited! But when I built my first house I felt like I didn't have the kind of time to really plan out each room. I hated choosing fixtures, paint colors etc without knowing what my final design idea was for each kwim? I love my current house ( the layout, street, kitchen, etc) and I enjoy making updates along the way. I take my time and really plan it all out. Fun stuff!

 

[basil]

I know you all are right, but the problem is I can't buy a house and update it, because all the houses have already been updated!

Example: the strongest contender house is 15 years old, recently updated by current and original owner. The kitchen is nice but just really not what I would have chosen - off white glazed distressed raised panel cabinets, microwave over the stove. I'd choose something more contemporary/clean lined, like a wood shaker door, and I hate my current microwave-over-stove setup. And the carpets are in excellent condition but WHITE. They'd look nice for all of 2 seconds (see my housekeeping thread and remember I have a dog and a baby). But I can't replace these things because they are new and so it's throwing $$$ down the drain. I wish I could find an old 80s kitchen that I could redo, but I can't.

I guess it makes me sound like a snot, but it's a lot of money and I want to buy something I love for that amount...

 

[rainwood]

Basil -

How much you need to be on site depends on how well things are going. On our first project, we were both working full time with really demanding jobs and some travel. We were lucky to get to the job site once a week, often on the weekends when no one was around. The job went pretty well, two months later than originally scheduled which wasn't too bad. We learned two important lessons from that project. First was to be more financially disciplined and resist making changes even though there were some really good ideas. Some changes can't be avoided, but the voluntary ones can really make you go over budget. The second lesson was that sometimes you just have to insist that things be done right even when it would require a lot of work and delay the project. Twenty-five years later, my kitchen island is STILL in the wrong place. I should have made them move it when the mistake was discovered, but I was trying to be nice.

The second project was a huge remodel that we lived in during construction. It was a nightmare, mostly because the contractor wasn't up to the task. Thank goodness we were on the job every day and did lots of project management because that's the only way things were even close to being built the way they should. It took twice as long as scheduled so was more than 6 months late when it shouldn't have been. We learned not to use someone who hasn't done a lot of your type of project and to beware of the really good price. It was the only way we could afford to do the addition, but we basically had to carry them on our backs the whole way. If we hadn't been really experienced, it would have been a total disaster. We were very financially disciplined this time around and came in on budget, even though it was very tight and there were lots of problems. We said no to almost every discretionary change even when it was something we really wanted.

The current project is one we hardly ever get to visit, both because it's a bit of a trip and because my husband is going through some really serious medical treatment. We hired a really good contractor though and the project is going well and on schedule. There have been some things that we've had to catch when we do get to visit and some that we just had to let go because we couldn't be there to see it. We're being really disciplined again because the budget is tight again, and we've said no to some really great ideas the contractor or the architect had. It gets easier to say no with practice.

Construction always costs more than you think it will, sometimes a lot. You should only build if you're planning to be there for a long time because right now the cost of construction is going up faster than the value of what's being constructed. My general rule of thumb is that you take whatever your budget was at the very beginning - before any design work - then double it and that's how much it will cost. That was true the first time for us, not as true the second and third times but only because we really, really worked at it, including furnishing some of the lighting and plumbing fixtures ourselves, and on the summer place even the cabinets and countertops. You should also have at least 5% of the construction cost set aside as contingency for the inevitable issues; 10% is safer.

As for the problems, some people really enjoy problem solving. My husband does so he'd usually take it on, and if things got bad I'd come in and be the big hammer. Our version of good cop, bad cop. You'll have to assess your skills at problem-solving and being willing to be the black hat if that's what is needed. I will also say that building something yourself is the only way to get what you truly want. I love our house, including the addition, because it suits us so well and there's no way we'd have that if we'd bought what someone else had built. The same is true with the summer place. It's totally us. If you're lucky, the problems get fuzzier with time while the house gets better.

 

[canuk-gal]

Unless you have plenty of time to go to the construction site DAILY to check on everything they have done that day, don't even think about it!!! You have to be on top of what is done because they will make mistakes and you need to be there to tell them to redo before it is too late! It sounds like you already have a full plate with a fulltime job and a baby. Well, building a house takes a LOT of time!!! I really think in that neighborhood it may not be a good financial decision to build when most of the homes are older. I think buying an existing home will get you into a home for a better price, and then you can redo rooms over time when you have the time.

We built from scratch once and bought brand new, already built homes twice. I'll take the newly built home any day over building, unless you have the time and money to build your final custom home. We just moved a little over a year ago and there is no way I could have built a custom house while working fulltime.

HI:

Agreed. Building can be a full-time job! I dislike decorating and picking out carpet, etc, etc, that it drove me to distraction. Hiring a decorator can help, but that can be costly. And checking for updates can be a daily chore...notwithstanding move in dates are often pushed back.... But in the final analysis building gets you precisely what you want. Rewarding.

Some folks like to renovate and can live thru that process; I think it might be stressful.

Any chance of getting a spec home in your favorite area? In some cases you can still pick colors, flooring and the like.

cheers--Sharon

 

[soocool]

Unless you have plenty of time to go to the construction site DAILY to check on everything they have done that day, don't even think about it!!! You have to be on top of what is done because they will make mistakes and you need to be there to tell them to redo before it is too late! It sounds like you already have a full plate with a fulltime job and a baby. Well, building a house takes a LOT of time!!! I really think in that neighborhood it may not be a good financial decision to build when most of the homes are older. I think buying an existing home will get you into a home for a better price, and then you can redo rooms over time when you have the time.

We built from scratch once and bought brand new, already built homes twice. I'll take the newly built home any day over building, unless you have the time and money to build your final custom home. We just moved a little over a year ago and there is no way I could have built a custom house while working fulltime.

I totally agree with that. Luckily, we had a great builder who was ontop of everything. We had him do work (put an addition on our first home, redid our bathrooms) and knew what type of person he was. Even though DH, I, or my dad (he's the one who had to be impressed) stopped by everyday, my builder monitored everything and doublechecked with us beforehand. He gave us a list of the suppliers he dealt with and we picked our stuff from there - when it came to cabinets, tiles, flooring, etc. He was organized and made the process so much easier. We were the ones who worked with the architect on what we wanted. We already knew ffrom the builer what the per sq ft charges were to build so we knew how to stay within our budget. For example, we went with vinyl flooring/carpets at first then changed to tile and hardwood down the road when we had more money. We started with laminate countertops and then did granite about 6 years ago. We bought all the lighting ourselves and got a great deal from the store since we bought so much.

In the 16+ years we have been in our house we did have to put in a new heat pump last year (we did not get top of the line when we built) and a new roof this year (we were proactive instead of waiting for a disaster to happen since many of the homes built around the same time roofs began to leak). We plan on staying here another 10-15 years until DH retires so building our own house from scartch meant alot since we knew we would be here for a very long time.

 

[soocool]

Basil, one thing a neighbor of mine did was to go to new developments and checked out their sample homes and got the plans. After she and her husband reviewed all their home plans, thet went back to the samples they like the best narrowed it down to 2) and took photos & videos of the rooms in those 2 homes and from their designed their house.

They took the plans and made detailed notes of what had to be in each room - lighting, outlets, flooring, windows (type), etc. They took the floor plans to an architect who downsized the house for them (this was 3000 sq ft home that they made into a 2500 sq ft). If there was something specific she liked in the sample home she made sure she found out who the manufacturer was , style, model etc. and had.

Mind you this took them about 2 years to do this preliminary work and once the had the plans and the contractor (they interviwed a few) their house was built in 4 months. They have lived here for 20 years. In fact, the majority of people in my neighborhood built their homes and have lived here anywhere from 12- 58 years. So we have million dollar+ homes sandwiched in with homes built almost 60 years ago that are going for about 1/2 million (desirable area makes all the difference). In my area homes go up for sale when someone divorces or dies.

 

[NovemberBride]

Basil,

I think there is a huge difference between building a house from scratch (i.e. completely your own design, custom home), and choosing a builder model and having it built. We did the latter and it was pretty painless. It was our first house. so we were glad to have the builder model to start with. We chose from 5 or so models and made some minor modifications, then chose our finishes from there. I was working fulltime at a very demanding job, but didn't have kids yet. We defintiely did not visit the site daily, not even weekly for the most part.

We have been here 5 years and I still love our home, although we continue to make tweaks along the way. I will say that building a home is definitely more expensive than buying an existing home, even if starting out you think you'd be spending less or the same money. I think it is because when faced with all the different finishing choices it is kind of overwhelming and you feel like you should get everything you want NOW, versus if you bought an existing home most people would update a room or two at a time. The best advice we got was to only choose the options that were more difficult to change later and that other cosmetic upgrades could be made later (i.e. we put in a fireplace with a marble surround and field finished hardwoods throughout the first floor, but opted to forego granite countertops and a backsplash initially since that is a 1-2 day project easily done later.) I will say that it was our first home and there are definitely a few things i wish I did differently, but overall I am very happy.

 

[partgypsy]

The biggest things you cannot change are neighborhood, the plot of land itself and how the house is situated on it, and the basic layout of the house. Pretty much everything else can be changed.

If you find an 80's house whose layout you like, but need to rip out the white carpeting, that may be a more painless way to go.

It's all about the amount of work and money you are willing to invest, as well as how picky you are. If you are someone who has very specific ideas about what you want in the home and any existing home will require extensive remodeling to get it there, building new may be a more cost-effective option. Everyone is different. My parents-in law had not extreme but very specific ideas about what they wanted in their house when they moved closer to us. They looked at between 100-200 houses because they had a list but didn't want to have to do any of the things on the list (move-in ready). But you may be more flexible with your list or be willing to do those things yourself.

Ourselves, the house we bought, the main criteria was the neighborhood, that it was structurally sound, and the price. Everything else we did ourselves. And we mean we really had to do do a number on the interior. It was a single family home that was then changed into a duplex so we had to tear out all the walls that made it a duplex, redo the ceilings, walls, windows. It has new heating/air, electricity, plumbing, kitchen and bathrooms. To tell you the truth it would have been easier to build new than do what we did, but there were no open available lots where we were looking.

 

[makemepretty]

Don't do it...don't do it...

I didn't read everyone's responses but we built our house. I mean literally, we BUILT it. We didn't hire someone. Making all those decisions is hard, period. Physically drywalling and painting a whole house is physically hard. It's always more expensive than you think it will be too. You always want something nicer that costs a *little* bit more. Honestly, new houses are not built like old ones are and are not the same quality in terms of materials.

We get compliments on our house all the time but that is physical stuff you can do to any house. I'd rather start with an older home and remodel in a heartbeat. I've heard a lot of stories of people going in deep debt and breaking up over building a home.

 

[Haven]

I've never built a house but my best friend just finished building hers. It wasn't a completely custom build, it was more like they found an empty lot in an older neighborhood and the builder had them choose from a set of floor plans. But, they still had to make a million tiny decisions and go and check on the builder every single day during the process.

This is all I have to say about her experience, as an outsider: Building a house is NOT a good idea for anyone who likes to be in control.
My best friend has control issues. It drove her insane.
I cannot tell you how happy I am that that darn house is finished!

 

[charbie]

Hmmm. Well, I guess a lot of people here didn't have great experiences building.
We just built, the process was started Jan. 31 of this year when paperwork was signed, and we closed on June 17th. Its a large (3000+ sq ft) home, and was built by a large national builder. We have had a few hiccups along the way, but nothing that would prevent me from doing this again. We simply couldn't find "the house" in the right neighborhood for the right price. We found a few that were close, we were about to put an offer on a home, but then we found the model to the home we built and decided to go for it.
Our neighborhood is quite small, currently has just 25 or so homes, with room for probably twice that. Probably 5 or 6 of those are huge, worth twice as much as ours. Honestly, having a "lower end" home in the neighborhood means our home is going to hold its value extremely well! We don't plan to move from here (hopefully ever!) But if we did, knowing other homes have sold for a lot more than ouurs will help.
We had regularly scheduled meetings with the project manager to go over and make sure there weren't any mistakes being made. Sure, some were made, but they were promptly corrected. They only plumbed our guest bath for 1 sink...we had ordered two, so they fixed it right away. We marked out a few boards we wanted replaced, small things (in my opinion). Sure, we had to pick out a ton of stuff, but they also had a lot of the "basics" and we went with standard choices on things like door handles and faucets. But we had choices lie, "Oh, do we want a bonus bedroom over the garage? Do we want a morning room? What cabinets do we want?" But those things literally took 2 days. We went through their samples and they walked us through everything. Not that stressful if you ask me, and I love our house.
Its also great to know the whole place is under warranty. A few weeks ago, our basement plumbing backed up. Turns out there was a hole in the pipe in our yard from the developer. After discovering the problem, our builder paid for the yard to be completely torn up, pipe replaced, yard replaced, and clean-up of the basement. I mean, it was annoying, but not a cent came from our pocket. And its nice that everything is brand new. We won't have to replace a water heater, the HVAC, the roof, the deck, etc. I love it.

I think its worth it to look into building. It was around the same price as existing housing, but we got everything tailored to us, and much much more square footage for our money.